What would you do?

[braidedbelle]

I am completely stumped with my hair. The strands are very thin, but I have a lot of them. The top of my head is oily and flat (with occasional dandruff), but the ends are dry and unruly. One side of my head is wavy (but a very crazy, uncontrollable wavy that does NOT like to be straightened) and the other side is much calmer. I have many layers, and the bottom layer likes to flip out instead of lying flat on my back (doesn't look good). I am at APL length and I can't figure out a solution. Most products weigh my hair down, blow drying makes my hair look nice for about ten minutes until it collapses, and straightening destroys my fine hair.

I used to straighten my hair daily but I put down the straightener almost a year ago, and I have had several trims since. My hair looks too disastrous to wear down, so I usually put it in a bun or a braid. I was trying to grow my hair out, but will that just make things worse? Should I cut everything off and start over, or is there another solution so I can improve my long hair?

I admire all of you and your beautiful hair, which is why I turned to this website for help. My hair is drying right now but I will post a picture when it is dry so people can see the problem.

:confused:

[Cainwen]

APL hair is often a problematic length. For me it was always a 'neither here nor there' length that I hated (I've gone from bob/pixie to BSL/waist several times). If you hair isn't horribly, horribly damaged, I'd put it in a braid or bun and just leave it alone for 6 months-1 year. If you get to BSL and *still* hate the way your hair looks, then I would consider going back to a shorter cut for a while. Don't judge your hair at APL, is my advice.

[silverjen]

One thing that will help a great deal is if you tell us about your routine in detail. When do you wash, with what, and how? Any heat styling, blow dryer use, or dyeing? What leave-ins or products have you tried? The more details the better, then the smart folks here can give you specific pointer and techniques to try. We do want to help!

[braidedbelle]

cainwen - That's why I am a little hesitant to chop it all off right now. Is it normal for ends to flip out at APL?

silverjen - I wash daily (if I don't I'll get dandruff) and I vary between Herbal Essences Featherweight shampoo/conditioner and Aussie cleanse and mend shampoo/conditioner (switching every couple weeks or so). I usually use a dime-sized amount of shampoo and a half-dollar sized amount of conditioner. I always finish showers with a cold rinse. When my hair gets super weighted down I clarify with Neutrogena clarifying shampoo, and when it gets super dry I use Aussie 3 minute miracle. I've tried about a hundred different shampoos and so far these are my favorites. I air dry 99% of the time, and I usually use a moisturizing spray or frizz-control spray about an hour after I shower. I also use Paul Mitchell's super skinny serum when my hair starts to feel semi-dry. When my hair is almost dry I pull it into a braid or a bun and then leave it alone for the rest of the day. On special occasions, I use a blow dryer (with heat protectant of course) but this is only once a month tops. I sometimes use a hair straightener (on the lowest heat setting) to tame a few crazy waves. I dyed the bottom layer of my hair two years ago, but I am pretty sure all the dyed strands have been trimmed off.

Thank you so much for the help!

[Pantha]

You have pointed out a large number of issues you see with your hair, but I think what it boils down to is 4 main points, you have:

-oily roots
-occasional dandruff
-dry ends
-uneven curl pattern

The oily roots are probably related to the dryness of your hair, I would suggest you start experimenting with oilsto try and get some moisture into your hair, this will help with both the dry ends, and evening out the oily roots. This will also help to rescue a bit of length which if your ends really are that dry you may loose due to breakage which is more common in dry and normally as a result damaged ends.

I don't know shat your normall hair care routine is, but I found that my scalp became less oily when I started washing my hair less often and stopped using a shampoo for greasy hair, I guess it was striping my hair of all its oils and so it was making more to replace them.

Unfortunaly there is not a lot that can be done for an uneven curl pattern, and I cannot see a picture of just how bad it is, but hopefully if you can improve the condition of your hair, your curl may become less uncontrolled curly, and more controled curl.

You say that your bottom layer flicks out, this may be due to the layering itself, if your hair were all one length the weight of itself may cause it to lay better, and be more controlable.

I hope some of that can be of some help, and sorry for rambling on.

[braidedbelle]

Pantha - Thanks for the input! Just a few questions: When you stopped washing your hair so much, did you have trouble with your hair being unusually oily for a couple days/weeks? In addition, which types of oils would you suggest? I've tried coconut oil and it helped with dry ends, but it weighed my hair down a bit.

[BlazingHeart]

Hmm, a lot of this sounds like stuff that happens when your shampoo is too harsh for your hair and scalp. When you have too harsh a shampoo, it will over-dry everything, and in response your scalp will over-produce oil, which makes your scalp seem oily.

You might try switching to a non-SLS shampoo. Also, washing just your scalp rather than scalp + length should help with the dryness in your hair. Someone else suggested oiling - that would be a good thing to add. Obviously don't oil your scalp if you have oily roots, but your length and especially your ends could benefit from it. A chamomile tea rinse is good for calming the scalp as well, though for some people it will lighten the hair somewhat, so keep that in mind.

~Blaze

[braidedbelle]

Thank you Blaze! I think I will definitely try cutting back on the shampoo.

[braidedbelle]

Also another question for anyone reading this: What causes hair to dry very slowly? My hair takes several hours to dry after I get out of the shower. Could this be caused by oily hair or dry hair?

[ssjhotau2]

I remember those days :) Granted my hair isn't curly, but I recently learned it is wavy and I remember that it use to have these really gross looking random waves at APL which I hated and thought was because of the way my hair stuck to my face and shoulders.

My scalp was very oily and my ends crunchy and my hair frizzy and random. I use to blow dry and curl to make my hair look presentable.

What has helped me at first was oiling my ends and conditioning treatments.

What has helped the most I think is CO/CWC and mostly removing sulfates/cones from my routine. Now I can easily go 4-5 days without washing until my scalp can really be called "oily"- but I CO every other day and CWC once or twice a week when I think my hair feels heavy.

Through APL and BSL I kept my hair braided or put up and ignored it as best I could- though I struggled daily with cutting and I didn't always win.

[braidedbelle]

Thanks ssjhotau2! Looking at your picture, your hair looks like a healthier/nicer/longer version of mine. I hope mine looks more like yours when it gets longer.

[Pantha]

Pantha - Thanks for the input! Just a few questions: When you stopped washing your hair so much, did you have trouble with your hair being unusually oily for a couple days/weeks? In addition, which types of oils would you suggest? I've tried coconut oil and it helped with dry ends, but it weighed my hair down a bit.

It did take a while for it to settle down but I did it gradually, I was washing every other day and sometimes every day with a shampoo for greasy hair and a conditioner for dry hair thinking this would deal with my oily roots and dry ends. I first of all switched to a shampoo for dry hair too, and washed only every three days instead. It was a gredual process but after a couple of months it had settled down completely, and then I extended it a bit more so now I wash twice a week, although sometimes I have to wash more often not because my hair looks of feels oily, but because of my job, I just wash with conditioner when that happens though.

With regards to oil, I use coconut oil and brush it through with a boar bristle brush (£1.99 from an afro hair care shop). Are you leaving the coconut in? I use it before I wash my hair, normally putting it just from APL down to the ends (just the dryest area I wouldnt recomend above jaw line) and then my hair is tied up all day at work where it absorbs what it wants and I wash it out on that night. Alternatively you can put it in overnight if you prefer to shower in the mornings. I don't often use it as a leave in treatment unless my ends are particularly dry but I have found it absorbs into my hair better than olive oil which weighs my hair down even if I wash it out.

[Lianna]

I would wear it up or braided until I can cut the damage at a confortable length (for me, probably shoulder, or chin layered til shoulder).

[MonaLisa]

No don't cut it :) I think it will start to get better as it gets longer.
As for oily roots and dry ends, i think CWC could be a solution. Also brushing it, that oil is good for something!

[braidedbelle]

Thanks Pantha! I will probably try coconut oil again in addition to cutting back on the shampoo.

Lianna - That's a good idea, I'll probably be chopping off damaged ends for a long time until I get my virgin hair back anyway. Thank you!

[MinderMutsig]

Also another question for anyone reading this: What causes hair to dry very slowly? My hair takes several hours to dry after I get out of the shower. Could this be caused by oily hair or dry hair?
In my experience this is caused by dry or at least porous hair. It soaks up a lot of water and all of that needs to evaporate for your hair to dry. This also causes a lot of frizz for me.

Something that helps me a great deal with this is to spray my hair with a bit of water and then put in conditioner as a pre-wash on slightly damp hair before I get in the shower to wet my hair completely to wash it. That way the conditioner can do it's job and moisturize and penetrate the hair before it gets saturated with water. After washing this way my hair dries faster and is not as dry and frizzy.

When you get in the shower you just quickly wet your hair and without rinsing all the conditioner out wash your roots with shampoo or CO (conditioner only). Then rinse thoroughly and apply conditioner again like usual.

It's a bit like CWC (condition-wash-condition) with the only difference that you put in the first conditioner on dampened hair instead of sopping wet hair so the porous hairs soak up all the conditioning instead of getting filled up with just water.

[MinderMutsig]

Also, have you looked into the Curly Girl method? It's especially designed for curly and wavy hair because those hairtypes are often dryer and more fragile compared to straight hair.

In short it means:
1. cutting out shampoo. Most shampoos contain sulfates like SLS or SLES which is much too drying and you don't actually need all those harsh chemicals to clean your hair if you cut out products that require heavy duty cleaning like silicones. Cut out all the silicone in your routine and you wont need to use shampoo.

2. Instead you use conditioner to wash your hair. You need a light conditioner to wash your hair making sure you use enough friction to remove dirt and grease.

3. Use a heavier, more moisturizing conditioner and apply like you would after a shampoo wash. (from the ears down, soak and rinse.)

4. (Optional) Get out of the shower and apply a leave-in conditioner. You could use a little of your washing conditioner for this.

5. Scrunch in a non-silicone and non-alcohol gel in your wet hair (read the ingredients, there are a lot of cheap drugstore options for this step) and then you leave your hair to dry. The gel helps to form nice clumps and preserve your wave or curl pattern. Do not touch your hair until it's fully dry or it will frizz!

6. You can choose from a number of methods to help the waves and curls along and to dry your hair. These include plopping, diffusing or just airdrying.

7. When your hair is fully dry you scrunch out the crunch. You can put in some leave-in, oil or curl cream at this point if you like.

8. Enjoy your moisturized, bouncy, non-frizzy, soft waves and curls!

This is a very short explanation and if you are interested in this method I recommend reading up on the different components on this forum or on Naturally Curly. There is a ton of information on this method on both!

[Kiwiwi]

I agree fully with MinderMutsig (bahaha, wat een naam ook :-p Hoi medelander!)

Please try the curly girl method. It sounds like it will do WONDERS for you. As it did for me. I am SO glad I learned how to understand and take care of my unruly, poofy hair (I am not poofy, I am very curly, yay!). I get tons of compliments when I have my hair down and used the curly girl method. A full head of bouncy, soft, moisturized curls.

Buy the book (the 2011 version), inform yourself, try it out, come back and thank us :-p Haha!

[braidedbelle]

Thank you so much for the advice everyone! Is there an actual book about the curly girl method?

[MinderMutsig]

Thank you so much for the advice everyone! Is there an actual book about the curly girl method? Jup, it's called The Curly Girl I think. I guess it's helpful in that you can find all the info on the method and a lot of the science behind it in one place but I don't feel you really need the book if you are willing to spend some time on doing the research online.

If you get the basics down and have your routine in place you can slowly start experimenting with different methods, products, learn about dew points, proteins, humectants and anti-humectants etc.

[LadieRyrie]

CO-ing should definitely help you. Your ends will be moisturized and after about a week of CO, your scalp will probably stop producing as much oil as it has been. I've seen it work for people.

[Ithonna]

I personally find that Coconut oil is to heavy for my hair. I use Hollywood Beauty's Tea Tree oil. It can be found in the ethnic hair care section at WalMart. There is actually a thread about it around here some where. I find that it is moisturizing enough to help with my dry ends, but light enough that I don't have to wash it out. Also I find that if I massage a tinny amount onto my scalp while my hair is sopping wet that I settles some of my dandruff. Keep in mind though that I have bad dandruff issues and everything associated with it. I r has a cranky scalp.

Oh and! I had a similar issue that my mom just reminded me of! The shampoo I was using was really harsh so she got me baby/kids shampoo. She said it helped with my oily issues. (Must have been years ago seeing as though I don't remember.)

[braidedbelle]

Thanks everyone! All the advice is wonderful and I can't wait to try these new methods!

[Ermine]

Oh and! I had a similar issue that my mom just reminded me of! The shampoo I was using was really harsh so she got me baby/kids shampoo. She said it helped with my oily issues. (Must have been years ago seeing as though I don't remember.)

Yes, definitely! I've been using baby shampoo for a couple weeks now and it's helping a lot with the oily issues and doesn't strip my hair. Some people complain that baby shampoo doesn't clean their hair thoroughly with one shampooing, but I think that's the best part, almost. It just gets the sebum out of my roots and leaves the ends as is, so my hair doesn't look oily but isn't dried out either. Definitely a good choice for an every day washer like me.